Apparatus for automatic production op gramophone records

ABSTRACT

THE INVENTION RELATES TO A MACHINE FOR PRODUCING GRAMOPHONE RECORDS, THE MACHINE COMPRISING A MOULDING PRESS INCLUDING TWO MOULD SUPPORTS AND MEANS FOR REPETITIVELY MOVING THE MOULD SUPPORTS TOGETHER AND THEN APART TO PRESS GRAMOPHONE RECORDS. AT ONE SIDE OF THE PRESS THERE IS LOCATED MEANS FOR REPETITIVELY PRODUCING A SHOT OF MOULDABLE MATERIAL SUFFICIENT TO FORM A GRAMOPHONE RECORD AND HAVING TWO LABELS ADHERING RESPECTIVELY TO THE UPPER AND LOWER SURFACES OF THE SHOT. A RECIPROCATING SHOT LOADER TRANSFERS EACH SHOT AND THE ADHERING LABELS TO THE PRESS WHILE THE MOULD SUPPORTS ARE APART, THE SHOT LOADER BEING WITHDRAWAL BEFORE THE MOULD SUPPORTS ARE MOVED TOGETHER TO PRESS THE RESPECTIVE RECORE. THE SHOT   LOADER SUPPORTS THE SHOT BY MEANS OF SUCTION APPLIED TO ONE OF THE LABELS. PAIRS OF GRIPPERS ARE PROVIDED ON TWO ENDLESS BANDS LOCATED AT THE FRONT AND REAR OF THE PRESS AND THESE BANDS ARE MOVED INTERMITTENTLY SO THAT A PAIR OF GRIPPERS IS LOCATED IN A POSITION TO SEIZE THE FLASH OF A RECORD AS IT IS MOULDED IN THE PRESS. WHEN THE PRESS IS OPENED, THE BANDS ARE MOVED TO TRANSFER THE RECORD FROM THE PRESS TO A RECORD PROCESSING TOOL, LOCATED AT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PRESS FROM THE MEANS FOR PRODUCING THE SHOT.

' Och 1971 w. L. RAND ETAL Re. 21,184

APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC PRODUCTION OF GRAMOPHONE RECORDS Original FiledOct. 9, 1962 I Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 12, 1971 w. L. RAND ErAL Re. 27,184

APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC PRODUCTION OF GRAMOPHONE RECORDS 7 Sheets-Sheet2 Original Filed Oct. 9, 1962 Oct. 12, 1971 w. L. RAND ETA;

APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC PRODUCTION OF GRAMOPHONE RECORDS Original Filed0a. 9, 1962 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 0a; 12, 1911 w. L. mm m; Re. 21,134

Armnmus FOR AUTOMATIC PRODUCTION or eamornom RECORDS Original File dOct. 9, 1962 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC PRODUCTION OFGRAMOPHONE RECORDS Original Filed 001;. 9, 1962 Oct. 12, 1971 w. L. RANDEI'AL 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 ss v22 RUQC FIG.7A

Oct. 12, 1971 W. L. RAND EI'AL Original Filed Oct. 9, 1962 7Sheets-Sheet 6 it: I K R1 R2 R3 FIGJA. CONTD. g i 126G 26b D4 D5 D6 D7D8 D9 I 120 15 122b h 122a L 129 120C!- U D :5 i I R14 120d 150 151 7 S758 l lk\\ will Oct. 12, 1971 a Re. 21,134

APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC PRODUCTION OF GRAMOPHONE RECORDS Original FiledOct. 9, 1962 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 FIG. 8.

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I V 1 R2 F 1 R3 1 I R4 F I R5 :2: R6 :1 R7 131:: R8 :2: R9

1:] :1 CJ 1:1 1:1 R12 121 R13 1: R14 :1 R15 I 1: R16 E: R17 2:1 R1812:2: R19

Unitcd States Patent 27,184 APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC PRODUCTION OFGRAMOPHONE RECORDS Walter Leslie Rand, Gerrards, and Leslie Eric Zouch,

Hays, England, assignors to Electric & Musical Industries Limited,Middlesex, England Original No. 3,329,997, dated July 11, 1967, Ser. No.574,478, Mar. 8, 1966, which is a division of Ser. No. 229,332, Oct. 9,1962. Application for reissue July 3, 1969, Ser. No. 848,368

Claims priority, application Great Britain, Oct. 11, 1961,

36,423/61 Int. Cl. B29d 17/00 U.S. Cl. 185.3 P 7 Claims Matter enclosedin heavy brackets II] appears in the original patent but forms no partof this reissue specification; matter printed in italics indicates theadditions made by reissue.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates to a machine forproducing gramophone records, the machine comprising a moulding pressincluding two mould supports and means for repetitively moving the mouldsupports together and then apart to press gramophone records. At oneside of the press there is located means for repetitively producing ashot of mouldable material sufiicient to form a gramophone record andhaving two labels adhering respectively to the upper and lower surfacesof the shot. A reciprocating shot loader transfers each shot and theadhering labels to the press while the mould supports are apart, theshot loader being withdrawn before the mould supports are moved togetherto press the respective record. The shot loader supports the shot bymeans of suction applied to one of the labels. Pairs of grippers areprovided on two endless bands located at the front and rear of the pressand these bands are moved intermittently so that a pair of grippers islocated in a position to seize the flash of a record as it is moulded inthe press. When the press is opened, the bands are moved to transfer therecord from the press to a record processing tool, located at the otherside of the press from the means for producing the shot.

This application is a division of our co-pending application Ser. No.229,332, filed Oct. 9, 1962, now Patent No. 3,264,386, which has nowbecome Reissue Patent No. 26,911.

This invention relates to the automatic production of gramophonerecords.

It has been proposed to produce gramophone records from granulatedmouldable material by an entirely automatic process throughout with nointermediate operations having to be performed manually by the pressoperator. The advantages of such a system are evident. However, certaincomplexities and disadvantages are apparent in all the proposed systems.One complexity is that of transferring the mass of pre-heated material,hereinafter called the shot, and the labels to the press. In particular,in accordance with one prior proposal it would be necessary to lift theleaf of the record press itself at least once during the production ofeach individual record in order to obtain access to the leaf. Thisprocess involves a certain loss of time and further mechanical linkagesand the loss of time in particular becomes a matter of consideration inview of the large numbers of copies of a single record which are usuallyproduced. Difficulties are also encountered in obtaining concentricityin the shot, when it is positioned in the press.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a machine for theproduction of gramophone records which reduces one or more of the abovementioned diiiiculties.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a machine forthe production of gramophone records, comprising a moulding press forpressing a record groove in mouldable material, means for delivering aquantity of said mouldable material to a label to cause the mouldablematerial to adhere to the label and transfer means operable to contactand convey the label and thereby the material to the moulding positionin said moulding press.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved machine forthe production of gramophone records whereby preformed mouldablematerial together with both the upper and lower labels disposed in theircorrect relationship are presented to the record press simultaneously.

According to this aspect of the invention there is provided a machinefor producing gramophone records comprising a moulding press includingtwo mould supports and means for repetitively moving the mould supportstogether and then apart to press gramophone records, means forrepetitively producing a shot of mouldable material sufiicient to form agramophone record and having two labels adhering respectively to theupper and lower surfaces of said shot, loading means for transferringeach shot and the adhering labels to the press while said mould supportsare apart, means for withdrawing said loading means and thereaftermoving said mould supports together to press a record, and means forremoving the pressed records from the press when said mould supports areagain moved apart and before said loading means transfers a further shotto said press.

Further objects and features of the present invention will becomeapparent and the invention clearly understood and more readily carriedinto etfect when applied to a particular embodiment described withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows the diagrammatic layout of an automatic record formingmachine,

FIG. 2 shows in plan view the construction of a cup for transporting theshot, the shot loader, and label loader operating mechanisms,

FIG. 3 illustrates by means of a perspective view the assembly of thelabel magazines and label loader,

FIG. 4 is a general perspective view illustrating the shot former andshot and label loaders and the press. In FIG. 4 a bridge a and the leafof the press 10 are shown lifted to reveal the parts underneath,

FIG. 4A is a detail view of part of the machine which cannot be seen inFIG. 4,

FIG. 5 shows the grippers and methods of release,

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the conveyor drive unit,

FIG. 7A is a general circuit of the air services to the machine,

FIG. 7B is a general circuit of the vacuum services to the machine, and

FIG. 8 is a timing diagram of the solenoids shown in FIG. 7A and FIG.7B.

A general description of the method of producing records by operation ofthe press will now be given with particular reference to FIG. 1 and alsoFIG. 4.

The granulated moulding composition is stored in a hopper 1 where it iskept dry by a supply of heated air being passed through a perforatedtube which is located within the hopper. Beneath the hopper 1 is locatedan extrusion cylinder 2 in which the granulated composition is steamheated to a temperature sufficient to render it plastic. The actualtemperature involved will depend on the moulding composition being used.The construction of the hopper and extrusion cylinder may be of a typewell known in the art whereby a suitable measured quantity of mouldablematerial is caused to issue from the extruder nozzle into cup 3. Thisheated material is now called the shot. Through an aperture in the baseof cup 3 is raised a pin 4 and when the shot is urged through the heatednozzle of the extruder cylinder 2 it falls upon this pin. It has beenfound that a pin with the conventionally shaped convex top tends tothrow the extruded-shot to one side of the cup. In the presentembodiment a concave top is provided on the pin 4 giving greaterconcentricity of the shot within the cup 3. Other shapes of pinproducing the same result are suitable.

The labels are stored in two air operated magazines 5 and 6 located onthe front of the machine and provided with splined centre pins in orderto prevent rotation of the labels within the magazines. The upper labelsare stored face uppermost in magazine 5 and the lower labels are storedface down in the magazine 6. An air operated label loader 7 capable oftwo strokes of different lengths is furnished with suction cups whichpick up a pair of labels simultaneously when these are offered bymagazines 5 and 6. The loader 7 is normally located over the maga- Lines5 and 6 and in operation moves in one stroke to position the lower labelwhich it has picked up upon the lower shot former plate 8a and then in afurther stroke to position the upper label upon the plate 8a. Plate 8acan be raised and lowered by means of an air cylinder capable of workingat either high or low pressure. All the operations of plate 8ahereinafter described will be at low pressure unless otherwise stated.The shot former consists of two parts, 8a the lower plate, and 8b theupper plate. Both plates are heated and the upper plate 8b is lixed to abridge while the lower plate 8a is, as noted, fitted to an air cylinderand provided with a pin. The length of the pin in the lower shot plate8a controls the :hickness and diameter of the formed shot. It alsoprovides, a hole in the centre of the shot which serves as a location onthe press centre pin. The thickness of the shot is such that no materialleaves the label area and therefore cannot adhere to the former plates.

Located at rest immediately beneath the plate 8b is a shot loader 9 withsuction means on its lower face. When the label loader returns to itsnormal position plate 8a is again raised to offer the upper label toshot loader 9. Plate 8a with the lower label is now lowered and the shotin the cup is positioned beneath plate 8b and shot loader 9 and plate 8ais raised to receive the shot which is released through the bottom ofcup 3 on the opening of a pair of geared doors assisted by the operationof a knockout device. The cup 3 is furnished with a pilot pin whichoperates a device to restrict the stroke of the lower plate 8a andprevent the cup being trapped. The actual rnoment when extrusion of theshot takes place occurs as soon before the positioning of the cup as ispracticable .n order to reduce chilling the shot. The shot former plate8a is now lowered carrying the lower label with the shot located upon itand the cup is returned to its normal position beneath the extrudernozzle. Plate 8a is raised inder high pressure and the shot iscompressed between :he labels against loader 9 supported by the upperformer plat 8b, and the lower former plate 8a. At this stage a lwell isincorporated to allow the shot to assume as flat 1 shape as possible.The loader 9 controlled by an air :ylinder travels to the press lowermould 11 carrying the abels and shot. Here the vacuum is released andthe abels and shot are positioned on the lower mould 11 of he press. Theloader 9 is returned and the press closed )y bringing the bed up to theupper mould 10 mounted on he leaf. During the [mouling] mouldingoperation, the :entre hole of the record, partly formed by the pin 4 andhe pin of the former plate 8a, is moulded to correct size. It will beseen that no necessity arises for lifting the leaf md upper mould 10during the normal cycle of operation or the purpose of positioning theupper label. On either ;ide of the press comprising parts 10 and 11 apair of :onveyor belts 12 are located passing over idler rollers [3. Oneach belt at predetermined intervals are mounted 4 grippers 14 whichseize the flash extruded from the press and thus are able to convey thepressed shot, hereinafter called the record, to the subsequent toolstations when 1 the hydraulically operated press has been opened. Anumber of subsequent operations may be performed on the record and inthe present embodiment three typical operations are described. Thehydraulic press being opened the record is conveyed by the [bolts] belts12 and the grippers 14 to the next station which is part of a two stagetool contained within an air press generally indicated by the referencenumeral 15. At the first stage of this tool the grippers are released asa pilot pin enters the moulded centre hole. The pilot pin serves tolocate the record, The operation and the reason for the release of thegrippers will be more fully described hereinafter. Here slots to providean alternative centre hole are punched. The grippers 14 then resume holdon the flash and the record is conveyed to the second station, where itis blanked or removed from the flash. The record is allowed to drop overa record stand 16 which may be lowered when filled by means of an aircylinder and replaced by an empty stand which is then raised to theoperating position. The flash is carried off by the conveyors 12 and thegrippers 14 to a flash release device 17 and a flash collector 18. Theconveyors 12 are controlled as is apparent to move in steps by aconveyor drive unit comprising cylinder 122b (FIGURE 6). It is similarlyapparent that the belts 12 must operate simultaneously and travel at anequal and predetermined distance each time the presses are opened. Meansfor achieving this are considered in more detail hereafter.

To further facilitate an understanding of the present invention some ofthe parts referred to in the general description which are not ofgenerally known construction will now be more fully considered.

Certain portions of the machine such as the hydraulic press, the airpress and tool and the hopper are substantially conventional items withwhich it is not proposed to describe in detail in the interests ofbrevity.

THE CUP FIG. 2 illustrates the cup which is used for accepting theextruded shot and conveying it to the shot former. The cup 3 consists ofa body 30 with a liner 36 which is made of aluminum and is used tominimize the risk of the shot sticking to the cup. The bottom of the cupis provided with a pair of doors 33 at the centre of whose junction islocated a hole through which pin 4 may pass during the process ofextrusion. The cup is located on a pair of guide rolls 3 1a which run insleeves 31b mounted on a base plate 39. Movement of the cup is achievedby an air cylinder 32b which drives a piston 32a which is secured to thecup body 30. The pins 37 pass through the cup body and pi'votally mountthe doors 33 which are geared together at the points indicated by dottedlines 38. From one of these doors 33 extends a lever 34 which isoperated tocause the opening of doors 33 to release the shot. This leveris operated by an arm 96 mounted on an air cylinder 95 located at theposition of the shot former. When the cup 3 is moved forward by piston32a to opening position above the plate 8a, the arm 96' is advanced toengage and operate the lever 34. A pilot pin 35' (see also in FIGURE 4)is provided on the leading side of the cup and it is this pilot pinwhich is used to push out a stop pin 8c from the machine frame via arocker arm 8e and a pin 8d which restricts the stroke of the shot formerplate 8a when it rises to receive the shot from the cup as shown inFIGURE 4A. When the air cylinder operates the arm 96 a second cylinderis energized to operate an arcuate knockotu arm 97, showndiagrammatically in FIGURE 7A which enters the body of the cup from thetop to push out the shot.

The timing of the knockout and cup opening cylinders is effected bysolenoid valve R10.

MAGAZINES AND LABEL LOADER FIGURES 3 and 4 illustrate the two labelmagazines and a label loader. FIGURE 2 further illustrates the labelloader, but for clarity omits the magazines. The magazines 5 and 6 arefitted, as shown, with splined centre pins 51 and 61 and are mounted onthe pistons of air cylinders which, being basically conventional items,are not shown in detail but are diagrammatically indicated in FIGURE 7A.In order to allow compensation for the varying height of a stack oflabels the magazines are not mounted directly upon the pistons of theair cylinders but are coupled through springs. The label magazines atrest are held down by a low pressure vacuum of lb. per square inch whichis supplied through a reduction valve V4 (FIGURE 7A). When the timeroperated solenoid R7 switches the full air pressure to the lower part ofthe magazine cylinders to raise the magazines 5 and 6 the low pressureair supply [air supply] is relieved tothe atmosphere through a pressurerelief valve shown in FIGURE 7A and indicated by the reference lettersPR. Located to reciprocate immediately above the magazines 5 and 6 isthe label loader carrier 7 with the label loaders 70 rigidly mountedupon it. Through the centres of loaders 70 and passing through the plate7 are holes 71 which accept the splined centre pins 51 and 61 and eachloader 70 is provided with suction cups 72 in the form of cavitiesconnected to vacuum ways within the body of each loader, the vacuum waysbeing connected to a suitable source of vacuum by way of pipes 75. Thelabel loader plate 7 is mounted on guide rods 73 (FIGURES 3 and 4) andconnected, as shown, to an air cylinder 74b provided with a piston 74a.This air cylinder as hereinafter described is a duplex cylinder of knownconstruction and is capable of two strokes of different lengths. Thepipes 75 are connected via individualvalves R16 and R17 (FIGURE 7B) tothe source of vacuum in order that the suction to the pads 72 may becontrolled individually on each loader 70.

SHOT FORMER AND LOADER ASSEMBLY General layout of the short former andloader asembly is described with reference to FIGURES 2 and 4. Referencenumeral 80a which shows a rigidly mounted bridge which extends acrossthe width of the machine and serves to support the upper shot formerplate 8b and the shot loader plate 9 when the lower shot former plate 8acompresses the shot under high pressure. When the bridge is closed it isbolted to the pillar 80b. The upper shot former plate 8b and itsassociated heating element 81 supplied with leads 82 is rigidly fixed tothe bridge 80a while the loader plate 9 is constructed with a hollowchamber and is slidably mounted on rails 91a and 91b. Holes are drilledin the lower face of plate 9 so that a vacuum applied to the chamberwithin plate 9 permits the carrying of the formed shot and the labels.The traversal of plate 9 is accomplished by the air cylinder 90b, thepiston 90a of which is attached by means of a bracket to the plate 9.The lower shot former 8a is provided with a centre pin 83, the purposeof which has been described, and is connected to the piston 84a of anair cylinder 84b (FIGURE 4A) Which is capable of operation both underhigh and low pressures. The piston 84a passes through the centre of aheating element 85 provided with [loads] leads 86. When the former is atrest the plate 8a is arranged to be in thermal contact with heatingelement 85. Means for restricting the stroke of the air cylinder 84b areshown in FIGURE 4A comprising as previously indicated a pin 80 locatedin a bearing secured to the machine frame. The pin 80 is actuated by thepilot pin on the cup shown in FIGURES 2 and 4, through the intermediaryof sliding rod 8e and the lever 8d against the urge of spring 8f, thepin moving into the path of the lower plate 8a at a predetermined pointin its travel thereby effectively preventing further upward movement.FIGURES 7A and 8 illustrate the control of the shot former which isdependent entirely on the operation of the timers R12 and R15, the lowpressure operation of the former being obtained by the reduction of thesupply pressure through a variable valve V3.

THE GRIPPERS AND HYDRAULIC PRESS RELEASE MECHANISM FIG. 5 shows theconstruction of one of the grippers for conveying the record by theflash extruded from the press. The gripper is mounted on a base platewhicr is secured to the conveyor belts 12. To the base plate 14( isattached the lower jaw 141 of the gripper which is provided with a pairof flanges 142. The upper jaw 142 is pivotally attached to the rear ofthe flanges 142 by means of a pin not shown in the diagram and thisuppei jaw is urged into contact with the lower jaw by a lea; spring 144.The spring 1 44 is attached to the upper jav 143 at the rear by means ofa pin 145 and a split pin 14! and operates against the restraint of asplit pin 147 whicl passes between the flanges 142 of the lower jaw asshown A further arm 148i is pivotally mounted on a furthe split pin 149in such a way that pressure upon the rea portion of this arm will tendto raise the upper jaw 14; out of contact with the lower jaw 141. Theopening 0 the grippers within the press as achieved by the action 0 apair of pins 111 (one at each side of the press) whicl is attached tothe bed 11 of the hydraulic record pres: When the press is closed a pairof steadying fingers 10 (FIGS. 4 and 7A) are [insterted] inserted ateach sid of the press from a bracket 101 under the control of a aircylinder 102 and pass above the plate 140 and beneat the conveyor belt 12 at the point where it is secured t the plate 140 and the pin 111 riseswith the lower moul 11 of the press passing through a hole 111bin thelows jaw 141 and urging the upper jaw 143 open. For cor venience andmore positive control of the record tr belt steadying fingers 100 arearranged to be inserte to hold the gripper and belt through a controlvalve M1 activated by the movement of the body of the press upo whichthe lower mould '11 is mounted. Withdrawal the steadying fingers isachieved by the timers operatir solenoid valve R19 and can therefore bepermitted 1 occur before the opening of the press. The eflect of tharrangement is to allow the grippers and belt to twi slightly so thatthe jaws of the gripper close on the e: truded flash of the record inspite of the fact that pin 1] still passes through the hole in the lowerjaw 141. An a 'vantage of this arrangement is that the record is alwapositively located. When the press is. opened the pin 1] is withdrawnfrom the hole in the lower jaw, and [the the grippers and belt carry therecord by its flash to tl next station where the alternative centreslots are punche The centre hole is moulded to full size in the press,at reference 103 in FIGS. 4 and 7A show the provision of moulding centrepin on the upper mould 10. FIG. 8 sho\ the timing of the operation ofthis device which m: however be rendered inoperative for setting uppurpos by the operation of switch M5 shown in FIG. 7A. At tl nextstation, and if desired also at the subsequent static the grippers areagain released by means of an o-peratit arm pressing on the rear of arm148 under the influen of an air piston 151 controlled by a valve operatby the closing of the too-l press. This arrangement perm the pilot pinsto centre the record in the tool thereby 1 sulting in greaterconcentricity of the finished record. is evident that a certainvariation in the position of sub: quent records may take place if anydistortion takes pla with cooling. At the second stage of the air pressan blast nozzle 152 (FIG. 7A left) is located in the lovr portion of theblanking tool which assists in lifting t leading edge of the flashmomentarily, as it passes or the cutting edge of the tool and preventsthe recc folding into the tool and thus becoming reject. When t recordis blanked it drops ontothe record station 1,6 which is raised by an aircylinder, and the grippers transport the flash to the flash releaseassembly 17 and the lash collector assembly 18. Reference to FIG. 1shows his arrangement and it can be seen that as the gripper and beltpasses round the drum the flash will be tilted to vhread on to the swanneck of the collector rod 18. The 'elease rod 17 merely takes the formof a wedge which s inserted between the jaws 141 and 143' of thegrippers :ausing them to open as the belt is driven leaving the lashover the collector rod 18. The air press is not illusrated in detailsince its construction is conventional.

CONVEYOR DRIVE UNIT AND INTERLOCK MECHANISM The conveyor belts 12 formclosed loops the top runs )f which pass over idler rollers 13 and twodriven wheels [20 mounted on axle 121, by which wheels the belts areadvanced. The lower runs of the belts pass over two pairs of idlerwheels which are not shown. The inside of the belt is provided with dogs12% which engage in iotches in the wheels such as 120a on the wheels 120(FIG. 6). The idler rollers 13 are cut away at their :entres to allowthe dogs 12% to pass between the flanges :hus formed. The driving of thewheels L20 is ac- :omplished by means of an air cylinder 122b and piston[22a (FIGS. 6 and 7A) The drive is transmitted in known nanner through adog clutch 123 which is located on :he axle 121. Also located on axle121 are three cams, me cam which is shown at 124 is mounted rigidly onthe axle and controls a suitable interlock mechanism whereby theinterrelation of operations of the machine is protected. A further cam125 is located on the driven member of the dog clutch and is used tocontrol, via valve 125a, shown in FIG. 7A, the air blast which lifts :herecord over the last tool station as described hereinbefore. The thirdcam is shown by reference 126a and operates an air valve 126b on thedriving stroke of the piston 122a, this valve controls the operation ofa locking device 120c (not seen in FIG 6 but represented in FIG. 7A)which engages the appropriate one of the notches [20a on the peripheryof the right hand wheel 120 there- JY ensuring positi ve stopping of theconveyor belts L2. This locking mechanism is arranged to be withdrawnslightly before the next driving stroke of the piston 122a and thereforefriction brakes; 127 are applied tothe left hand wheel 12.0 to provide afurther control when the locking device is withdrawn.

Reference to FIG. 7A illustrates the air circuit which :ontrols theoperation of the conveyor drive unit and its associated cams. Adiagrammatic indication of the construction of the locking mechanism120c which is arranged to be inserted under the control of valve 126b.The position of the drive wheel 120 and the associated piston [22a inFIG. 7A is shown at the end of a driving stroke and it will be seen thatmachine operated valve 129a is operative to allow air pressure from themain supply line be passed through a manual switch M2 to the controlvalve 129. To initiate the arming stroke of the piston 122a valve 129ais released and machine operated valve 12% is switched to allow pressureto pass to control valve 129 to switch the air supply to the lower pointin the cylinder l22b. The valves 129a and 12% are both operated by therecord press in such a way that when the press closes, the conveyorpiston 122a moves out, and when the press opens, the piston 122a movesin. It will be seen that the manual switch M2 provides a means forimmobilising the valves. In order to prevent the operation of the shot:onveyor drive when required and that two alternative manually operatedpushbuttons P1 and P2- may be used as alternative means to the machineoperated valves 129a and 12% respectively. The reference letter Tapplies to two tee valves each of which serve to provide a single outletto the pressure operated valve 129 from either the press button operatedvalves or the machine controlled loader without the clearing of therecord an inhibiting valve B is provided in the shot loader air circuit.Unless pressure is applied to this valve the air circuit to the shotloader is broken thereby preventing the traverse of the loader 9.

THE TIMER The sequence and inter-relationship of operations in thepresent machine may conveniently be controlled by timers. These take theform of discs located on a common spindle which is driven through atrain of gears by a motor. This motor must be capable of substantiallyconstant speed operation and most particularly must have a very shortstop time in order to prevent overrun of the spindle. On the discs arelocated levers in pairs which engage micro switches, the micro switchesbeing of a latching variety so that the first lever causes the switch tomake contact and the contact remains until the second lever strikes theknock-off arm of the switch thereby breaking the contact. Forconvenience these levers are capable of being located at any pointaround the periphery of each disc and a plurality of pairs of levers maybe provided on each disc. The micro switches serve to operate solenoidscontrolling air and vacuum valves in the machine which are shownconventionally in FIGS. 7A and 7B. It is clear that a considerableflexibility in the operation of the machine may be achieved by the useof these timers as the timing of operations need not be dependent on theoperation of another part of the machine itself.

Certain manual controls which override the operation of the timers areprovided, in particular, the operation of the extruder and the cup maybe so controlled. The timing sequence is illustrated graphically in FIG.8 of the accompanying diagrams. The scale 0 to 100 indicates anarbitrary division of the periphery of the discs and represents onecomplete cycle of the spindle. The various blocks indicate the periodsin which the solenoid operated valves are opened and the referencenumbers R1 to R20 will be seen illustrated with reference to thecircuits in FIGS. 7A and 7B. The reference letter M indicates switchcontacts which hold the operating motor of the timer on after theoperation of a press button switch has initiated movement of thespindle. It will be noted that R16 and R17 which control the vacuum tothe label loaders are switched on almost at the end of a cycle and soremain until an appropriate moment within the next cycle when they areswitched off. This means that at the end of a cycle unless the vacuumpump is switched off, suction will remain on the label loaders 70 As theoperation of the relays is obvious from the foregoing description inconjunction with the circuit shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B no detailedconsideration will be herein undertaken.

AIR AND VACUUM SERVICES- FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate the general circuitsof the air and vacuum services to the machine and refer to FIG. 8. Itmay be seen that all the solenoid operated valves whose numerals areprefixed by the letter R are primarily operated from timers inaccordance with the timing arrangement shown in FIG. 8. This timingarrangement applies to the described embodiment only, and variations inabsolute timing will occur due to the necessity for allowing forhysteresis in the system. As the layout of the circuit shown in 7A isconventional and moreover as a detailed description of many of the partsillustrated has already been given, FIG. 7A will not be exhaustivelydiscussed. The air supply of the machine is delivered at lbs. per squareinch at the point marked A and is reduced where required by variablereducing valves marked V so that pressures at the magazines 5 and 6 are30 lbs. per square inch, at the low pressure shot former 10 lbs. persquare inch, at the heat exchanger 1b 20 lbs. per square inch, and atthe diaphragm valves D1 to D9 60 lbs. per square inch. The heatexchanger 1b serves to heat air which is blown into the hopper 1. Thefunctions of the diaphragm valves are referred to in the next paragraph.After passing through a shut off valve S1 and a filter F, the air supplyis passed to air blasts on the mould through solenoid operated valvemarked 20, to the blanking die blast 152'through machine operated valve125A and also via a manually operated valve M1 to the heat exchanger 1band so to the hopper 1. These supplies are drawn before lubrication ofthe air suppl in lubricator L. Particular attention is drawn to thispoint as it is necessary to avoid contaminating the record material withgrease at any stage in the manufacture.

The diaphragm valves D1 to D9 control hydraulic steam and water suppliesto the extruder and press. D1 which is controlled alternatively by timerR6 or manual press button P3 controls the hydraulic supply causing theextruder piston to expel the shot. The raising of the extruder piston isaccomplished normally by a machine operated valve E2v or alternativelyby means of a manually operated press button P4. Diaphragm valve D3-controls the steam applied to the steamjacket on the extruder 2 and iscontrolled by manually operated valve M3. Diaphragm valves D4 and D5control steam supply to the upper and lower parts of the hydraulic pressand valves D6 and D7 similarly control the water supply to the press.The hydraulic supply to operate the record press is switched throughdiaphragm valve D8 while valve D9 controls the operation of the steamtrap. Valves D4 to D9 are controlled by timers R1 to R4 as indicated inFIGS. 7A and 8.

The references S1 to S8 indicate shut off valves which may be used toimmobilise any desired part of the machine and the devices indicated byreference letter C are flow regulators. The vacuum circuit shown in FIG.7B is of known form and self explanatory and is therefore not describedin further detail.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the presentembodiment is capable of many variations and means by which thisinvention is carried into effect may be considerably varied. The mainaspect of the invention is, however, the provision of a system wherebypreformed mouldable material together with both the upper and lowerlabels disposed in their correct relationship [is] are presented to therecord mould simultaneously. It is in this arrangement that the majoradvantage of the machine resides. Also in the present embodiment aconsiderable flexibility of the operation of the machine is ensured bythe use of timers, which substantially avoid the problems encounteredwhen timing is derived from the machine itself.

The labels referred to in. the description of the drawings are normalpre-printed" gramophone record labels, but it is to be understood thatunprinted labels or other pieces of paper, card or web material mayalternatively be used for transferring the shot or preform of mouldablematerial into the record press. In some cases moreover it may besuflicient to apply only one label before transferring each shot to thepress. Subsequently printed characters and/or designs may be applied tothe labels or in some cases additional pre-printed labels may beapplied. The term label used in the following claims is to be taken tohave the general meaning indicated in this paragraph.

What we claim is:

1. A machine for the production of gramophone records, comprising amoulding press for pressing a record groove in mouldable material, meansfor delivering a quantity of said mouldable material to a label to causethe mouldable material to adhere to the label and transfer meansoperable to contact and convey the label and thereby the material to themoulding position in said moulding press.

2. A machine for the production of gramophone records comprising amoulding press for pressing a record groove in mouldable material meansfor causing a quantity of said mouldable material to adhere to a label,means for conveying said label and the adhering material to the mouldingposition in said moulding press, said conveying means including asuction device for holding said label during the conveying operation andfor releasing said label when it is in the moulding position.

3. A machine according to claim 1 comprising gripping means for seizingexcess material around the periphery of the record which has beenextruded during the pressing process and displacing means for movingsaid gripping means and thereby conveying the record from the press.

4. A machine according to claim 1, said press having two moulds whichcan be opened and closed, means for applying a quantity of thermoplasticmaterial in heated and therefore softened condition to said transfermeans, means for causing a lable to adhere to the softened thermoplasticmaterial, means for moving the transfer means to carry the label and themouldable material into the press between said moulds while the mouldsare opened, the label being interposed between the thermoplasticmaterial and the transfer means to prevent adhesion of the thermoplasticmaterial to the transfer means, means for heating the transfer meansduring the movement thereof to reduce cooling of the thermoplasticmaterial, means for withdrawing the carrier from the press leaving thethermo plastic material in position for moulding, and means for closingthe press to mould the thermoplastic material with a sound groove.

'5. A machine for the production of gramophone records comprising:

(a) a storage vessel for storing thermoplastic material in a plasticcondition,

(b) a magazine for storing labels for said gramophone records,

(c) means for picking up at least one label from said magazine,

(d) means for dispensing a quantity of said thermoplastic material sothat it adheres to said one label,

(e) a moulding press,

(f) transfer means for delivering said label and the adherentthermoplastic material to the moulding position in said moulding press,

(g) heating means for heating said thermoplastic material whilst it isconveyed to said moulding position,

(h) means for causing said moulding press to press a record groove intosaid thermoplastic material,

(i) means for separating the leaves of said moulding press after saidrecord groove has been pressed in such a way that said leaves remainsubstantially parallel to each other,

(j) means operable whilst said leaves are separated for moving saidthermoplastic material after said record groove has been pressed and ina direction substantially parallel to the plane of said leaves.

6. A machine for producing gramophone records comprising a mouldingpress including two mould supports and means for repetitively moving themould supports together and then apart to press gramophone records,means for repetitively producing a shot of mouldable material sufficientto form a gramophone record and having two labels adhering respectivelyto the upper and lower surfaces of said shot, loading means fortransferring each shot and the adhering labels to the press while saidmould supports are apart, means for withdrawing said loading means andthereafter moving said mould supports together to press a record, andmeans for removing the pressed records from the press when said mouldsupports are again moved apart and before said loading means transfers afurther shot to said press.

7. A machine for producing gramophone records comprising a mouldingpress including two mould supports and operating means for repetitivelymoving said mould supports together and then apart to press gramophonerecords, a shot loader, reciprocating means for reciproeating said shotloader from a first position at one side of said press to a secondposition between said mould 1 1 supports, preforming means forrepetitively providing said shot loader at said first position with ashot of mouldable material sufficient to form a gram'ophone record andhaving two labels adhering respectively to the upper and lower surfacesof said shot, means for controlling said operating means, saidreciprocating means and said preforming means to cause said shot loaderto transfer a shot and the adhering labels to said press each time themould supports are apart, to withdraw said shot loader and then move themould supports together to press a record, a record processing tool atthe other side of said press from said first position, and meansoperative repetitively to remove pressed records from said press to saidtool each time said mould supports are moved apart and before anothershot is transferred to said press.

References Cited The following references, cited by the Examiner, are ofrecord in the patented file of this patent or the original patent.

J. HOWARD FLINT, JR., Primary Examiner

